Severe avalanche warning after train derailed by heavy snow in Switzerland

Switzerland issued its most severe avalanche warning on Tuesday after heavy snow caused a train to derail in Valais, injuring five people.

Homes were evacuated in anticipation of fresh weather threats, as the Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research raised its risk assessment to the maximum Level 5 in swathes of the southwest.

Dozens of people in Orsières were told to leave their homes, and roads and railway lines marked at risk were closed this morning, following disruption on Monday.

Several buildings in La Fouly, Le Clou, Les Granges and Ferret were also evacuated as a precaution, with storms sweeping in and putting several homes at risk. Skiers have been warned to stay on marked slopes and check avalanche bulletins.

The move came as a train was forced from its tracks near the Valais village of Goppenstein on Monday morning. Mountain rescue teams swooped in to help evacuate the 29 passengers on board, one of whom was taken to hospital with injuries.

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Valais police confirmed on Monday that all passengers had been safely evacuated from the Bern-Lötschberg-Simplon (BLS) AG regional train by midday, as they launched a probe to pin down the cause of the accident.

A spokesperson for the railway company earlier told 20 Minuten that the train derailed “due to an avalanche that came down in the Stockgraben area”.

BLS said that other services on the Frutigen-Brig line would be suspended until at least Tuesday. Trains were also cancelled in Oberwald, due to the weather risk.

The train derailed between Goppenstein and Hohtenn as it emerged from a tunnel during its journey south from Spiez to Brig early on Monday morning.

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Swiss monitors last week warned that there was a high risk of an avalanche in Valais amid a period of heavy snowfall and harsh winds.

Authorities were prompted to raise their avalanche risk warning to Level 5 in parts of the country on Tuesday following heavy snowfall through the night.

“Large quantities of fresh snow and the wind-drifted snow are very prone to triggering [avalanches],” the White Risk bulletin cited by the SLF read, adding: “Numerous very large natural avalanches are to be expected. Extremely large natural avalanches are possible.”

In the midst of the European ski season, at least four skiers in the Alps have been killed by avalanches in recent days.

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Two people were killed in Saint-Agnes and Montgenevre last week while skiing off piste, authorities said. Two more off-piste tourers were killed near Saint-Veran earlier this month.

At least 66 people have died in avalanches this European ski season, according to the European Avalanche Warning Services.

The organisation, which forecasts risk, says that snow avalanches claim an average of 100 lives in Europe every year.